Danny van Poppel has won the seventy-first edition of Halle-Ingooigem in Belgium in a sprint with a thinned first peloton. After two hundred kilometres, the 24-year-old topsprinter of Team LottoNL-Jumbo was a fraction faster than his compatriot Fabio Jakobsen. For Van Poppel, it’s his second win of the season. In February, he won a stage in the Volta a la Comunitat Valencia. Van Poppel’s victory is the twentieth victory for Team LottoNL-Jumbo.

The Belgian semi-classic, traditionally the last preparation for the national championships, was a very tough one. Van Poppel and Maarten Wynants managed to bridge across to a large leading group in the final lap. Wynants then held the group together, after which Van Poppel started his sprint early.

“Finally I win again. I’m really pleased about it. In the last few weeks, I’ve been very close a few times, especially in the Giro, so you can imagine how happy I am with this victory”, Van Poppel said. “It was really close between Jakobsen and me, but winning is winning. I was perfectly placed in Jakobsen his lead-out. I wanted to start the sprint earlier than he did. I lost quite some speed in the end, but luckily it was enough for the win. Maarten did a lot of work for me. During the last time on the Tiegemberg, we bridged across to the leading group. He ensured that it stayed together and that I could sprint. This gives me confidence for the coming weeks.”